English-Major Students’ Perceptions Of Phonetics And Phonology And Difficulties In Learning Process

Abstract

Phonetics and Phonology is an important specialized subject in the curriculum of English-majored students. However, learning this subject and having thorough understanding of this knowledge are considered to be very challenging to many students. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the perceptions and difficulties of junior and senior English-majored students in high quality program of Can Tho University in learning Phonetics and Phonology course. From these problems which have found out through the research process, the researcher also discusses some recommendations for better teaching and learning this subject in the future. In particular, the study was conducted using a quantitative research method to answer these two research questions: “What are perceptions of students towards Phonetics and Phonology course?” and “What are difficulties that students have met in learning Phonetics and Phonology?”. The data was collected through a questionnaire via Google Form from 80 English-majored students at Can Tho University. After that, the SPSS tool was used to analyze the data survey. The findings of this study show that although students have great awareness of the importance of learning Phonetics and Phonology, they still have to deal with a lot of different difficulties. In addition, the study’s participants also give their opinions about the practical suggestions to help students learn Phonetics and Phonology better. Through this study’s findings and conclusions, both students and teachers will have appropriate solutions for learning Phonetics and Phonology’s difficulties.